To exploit someone is to "use or take advantage of them unfairly." The sine qua non to a million daily actions, lately in particular of powerful men and the women in their lives. But while our media frenzy over such headlines, there is a back-page story. The daily story of daily consumer exploitation, all the more reproachable, because in this case the consumers really are being consensual.
If you've missed this story, well you're not alone. Like the fish doesn't notice he's in an ocean because the ocean is all he knows, the same is true of us. The American consumer swims in a sight-and-sound-around ocean of corporate hustle which has been craftily constructed to exploit every possible thought, feeling, appetite and desire we possess.
Too exaggerated...? I think not.
Think television, radio, newspapers, billboards, social media. Is there anywhere -- anywhere at all -- where we are not head-to-head and feeling-to-feeling with another high-priced corporate hustle? The biggest blockbuster coming to a theatre near you...the hottest album from this singer in years....the newest baddest concert in town...the next game pitting the rivals-of-the-century...the latest singing or dancing or survivor sensation ...the just released tell-all memoir...the next you-gotta-have sports car...that new fast-food menu with all the taste and none of the fat...and lets not forget this remarkable over-the-counter cure for diseases you don't even have yet.
But wait, there's more.
Is there ever a day in which you haven't heard Oprah pitching the novel-of-the age...Dave and Jay cooing and laughing with the big-name guest here to pitch their big-profit enterprise....the Sunday morning programs featuring prominent pols pushing personal agendas...cable news channels highlighting their batting order of pundits talking their boss's talking points....and lets not forget those would-be presidents who have instead found a pricey platform on cable from which to preach.
Granted, the examples here are stacked to make a point. And yet, is there really any consumers left out here who really believes their last purchase, ticket or vote was not the result of corporate hustle? Yes, this is free enterprise at work. But upon some reflection, don't you feel someone just worked you over...?
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It's a grim ugly truth that we all live with!!
ReplyDeleteMy take Jack, being a college grad. I
ReplyDeletethink we need to let our kids know that a
college degree isn't always a magic key that
automatically opens lucrative employment
doors or the doors to a financially affluent
life. It's a crap shoot, like everything
else. Still, in this day and age, it's the
one thing that you have to be armed with when you're out there in the job market.
95 percent of the time, you click on a post on
Monster or Career Builder and the requirements include a college degree. It's not the holy grail that it's made out to be, but a college degree is nice to have in the bank.